A Weekly Diary of How my Dog Carl Inspires Me to Grow Spiritually

The Disturbing Unknown

The fire was on and Carl and Bee lay in front of it without a worry in the world. The temperatures had dropped and I found it to be a perfect opportunity to turn on the fireplace so that the dogs would be able to snuggle up in their beds for an extra hour of slumber.

As they slept, I sat at my dining room table reading my Bible and listening to some soft music. During this particular quiet time, I felt such peace and gratitude that I almost missed the sound of something falling from the back porch. I decided to ignore it and continue to read my Bible. After a couple of minutes, I heard another clanging noise that seemed to be right outside the door.

I peeked over to the fire and saw my dogs still dozing which puzzled me. If there was something out there, wouldn’t the dogs hear it as well? But either way, I now knew that I had to open up the curtain and look to see what was causing the clamor.

The unknown can be a very scary thing and in this case, my adrenaline was rising and the last thing I wanted to do was open the curtain and see whatever it was that had disturbed this peaceful time.

This situation reminds me of the faith that I need in times of uncertainty. Many times, I become anxious when I know there is a curtain in my life that needs to be opened. In Hebrews 11:1, the Bible states that faith is what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. In times of suffering, I have to have faith in God, even when I can’t see Him or understand His will.

So after a couple of minutes of trying to convince myself that I had to open the curtain, I slowly lifted it up and scanned the porch. What I saw didn’t bring me any peace but only caused me to scream. Clutter was everywhere and the culprit was scooting itself across the back shelf.

Fear set in and I had to turn away from the scene to keep from hyperventilating. I first called my husband, knowing that he really couldn’t help me but just needing to share what was happening. I then called a neighbor who came over armed with gloves and a baseball bat.

After sharing with him where the animal was, I raced inside to close the doggy door so that Carl and Bee wouldn’t try to go out and engage with the animal. At this time, Carl and Bee spotted the imposter and began to jump up on the door and go crazy with desire to get out.

Now that my neighbor was rescuing me from this unknown predator, I was able to look out and identify the animal as a possum. Somehow it had walked through the doggy door that led into the screened in porch and didn’t know how to get out. It jumped up on the screen and climbed to the ceiling. After poking it with a broom, it jumped down and ran out the open door.

After it appeared to be gone, I allowed Carl and Bee to come out and do a last search for the ugly creature that intruded upon my peaceful morning. Oblivious to the unsettling situation, Carl came back into the house and headed back to bed where he laid down and went back to sleep.